II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3922 

To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and 

the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue an annual report 

to Congress projecting and accounting for the economic costs directly 

and indirectly caused by the impacts of climate change, to require the 

Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to establish a Federal Advisory Panel on the Economics of Climate Change, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2024 

Mr. MERKLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System and the Securities and Exchange Commission 

to issue an annual report to Congress projecting and 

accounting for the economic costs directly and indirectly 

caused by the impacts of climate change, to require 

the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to establish a Federal Advisory Panel on the Economics of 

Climate Change, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•S 3922 IS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restructuring Environ3 mentally Sound Pensions in Order to Negate Disaster Act 

4 of 2024’’ or the ‘‘RESPOND Act of 2024’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE ECONOMIC COST REPORT. 

6 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Board of Gov8 ernors of the Federal Reserve System and the Securities 

9 and Exchange Commission shall jointly submit to Con10 gress a report that projects and accounts for the economic 

11 costs directly and indirectly caused by the impacts of cli12 mate change, which shall include an analysis of— 

13 (1) the effects that climate change has on the 

14 labor market, economic growth, public health, and 

15 other broad areas of the economy of the United 

16 States; 

17 (2) property and land damage from rising sea 

18 levels and extreme weather; and 

19 (3) the costs associated with natural disaster 

20 relief and mitigation. 

21 SEC. 3. FEDERAL ADVISORY PANEL ON THE ECONOMICS OF 

22 CLIMATE CHANGE. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Federal Retirement 

24 Thrift Investment Board (referred to in this section as the 

25 ‘‘Board’’) shall establish a panel to be known as the ‘‘FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Mar 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3922.IS S3922

kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•S 3922 IS

1 eral Advisory Panel on the Economics of Climate Change’’ 

2 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Advisory Panel’’). 

3 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Panel shall 

5 consist of 9 members, appointed by the Board as fol6 lows: 

7 (A) 3 members shall be chosen from 

8 among individuals generally recognized for im9 partiality, knowledge, and experience in the 

10 field of labor relations and pay policy. 

11 (B) 6 members shall be chosen from 

12 among individuals with expertise in local, na13 tional, or transnational financing that seeks to 

14 insulate financial holdings from climate-related 

15 risks and losses. 

16 (2) LIMITATION.—Not more than 3 members of 

17 the Advisory Panel may represent a single employee 

18 organization, council, federation, alliance, associa19 tion, or affiliation of employee organizations. 

20 (3) CHAIR.—The Board shall select a member 

21 of the Advisory Panel appointed under paragraph 

22 (1)(A) to serve as the Chair of the Advisory Panel. 

23 (4) COMPENSATION.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Advi25 sory Panel— 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•S 3922 IS

1 (i) may not receive pay by reason of 

2 the service of the member on the Advisory 

3 Panel; and 

4 (ii) shall not be considered to be an 

5 employee of the Federal Government solely 

6 because of the service of the member on 

7 the Advisory Panel. 

8 (B) EXPENSES.—Notwithstanding sub9 paragraph (A), a member of the Advisory Panel 

10 appointed under paragraph (1)(A) may be paid 

11 expenses in accordance with section 5703 of 

12 title 5, United States Code. 

13 (c) DUTIES.—The Advisory Panel shall— 

14 (1) advise the Board on how, consistent with 

15 the fiduciary duties of the Board, the Board can im16 plement investment strategies in a manner that 

17 aligns with the goal of the United States to achieve 

18 net zero greenhouse gas emissions not later than 

19 2050; 

20 (2) identify possible investment opportunities in 

21 clean and renewable energy and other emerging in22 dustries that would maximize returns; 

23 (3) produce a comparative analysis comparing 

24 the fiduciary efficacy and responsibility of existing 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•S 3922 IS

1 investment practices of the Board with the invest2 ment strategies described in paragraph (1); and 

3 (4) advise the Board on how to identify, assess, 

4 and manage the investment risks and opportunities 

5 of climate change and prepare for a transition to a 

6 low-carbon economy. 

7 (d) EXAMINATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the duties of 

9 the Advisory Panel under subsection (c), the Advi10 sory Panel shall examine the following: 

11 (A) Economic and policy challenges facing 

12 the fossil fuel industry over the short, medium, 

13 and long term. 

14 (B) Quantitative and qualitative analysis 

15 and modeling of the economic impact of climate 

16 change on Federal employee retirement pro17 grams, including diversification of investments, 

18 risk tolerance, future economic and workforce 

19 trends, new opportunities, expected losses, and 

20 returns. 

21 (C) The current state of, and outlook for, 

22 low- and zero-carbon investment opportunities. 

23 (D) The experiences, including perform24 ance analyses, of other pension funds and inves25 tors that have undertaken concerted strategic 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•S 3922 IS

1 efforts to divest from fossil fuel holdings in 

2 order to maximize the efficacy and stability of 

3 their assets while minimizing their climate-re4 lated risk exposure. 

5 (E) Strategic options to address climate6 related investment risks through further efforts 

7 to divest from fossil fuel holdings, including— 

8 (i) transitioning to a low-carbon or 

9 carbon-free benchmark index for all public 

10 equities; 

11 (ii) divesting from significant fossil 

12 fuel holdings that are not responsible fidu13 ciary investments for beneficiaries; and 

14 (iii) exploring the use of organizations 

15 to de-risk investments in carbon dependent 

16 funds. 

17 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Advisory Panel 

19 shall submit to the Board a report containing the 

20 findings of the Advisory Panel, including the results 

21 of the examinations performed under paragraph (1). 

22 (e) CONSULTATION WITH FEMA.—The Advisory 

23 Panel shall, in preparing the report required under sub24 section (d)(2), consult with the Administrator of the Fed25 eral Emergency Management Agency on any matters withVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Mar 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3922.IS S3922

kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•S 3922 IS

1 in the jurisdiction of the Federal Emergency Management 

2 Agency. 

3 (f) REVIEW OF REPORT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Board, after reviewing 

5 the report submitted by the Advisory Panel under 

6 subsection (d)(2), determines that it would be finan7 cially profitable, and consistent with the fiduciary 

8 duties of the Board, to implement low-carbon invest9 ment strategies, the Board shall establish a plan to 

10 transition the investment practices of the Board ac11 cordingly. 

12 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Board shall 

13 submit to Congress, including to the Office of the 

14 Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representa15 tives, a report regarding the determination of the 

16 Board under paragraph (1), including if the Board 

17 is unable to determine that it would be financially 

18 profitable, and consistent with the fiduciary duties of 

19 the Board, to implement low-carbon investment 

20 strategies. 

21 (g) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding section 1013 of 

22 title 5, United States Code, the Advisory Panel shall ter23 minate upon submitting the report required under sub24 section (d)(2). 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•S 3922 IS

1 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated not more than $500,000 

3 for the Advisory Panel to comply with the requirements 

4 of chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code, including by 

5 ensuring that the Advisory Panel will have— 

6 (1) adequate staff and quarters; and 

7 (2) funds available to meet the other necessary 

8 expenses of the Advisory Panel. 

9 SEC. 4. CLIMATE CHOICE STOCK INDEX FUND. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8438 of title 5, United 

11 States Code, is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a)— 

13 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4) 

14 through (10) as paragraphs (7) through (13), 

15 respectively; 

16 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 

17 and (3) as paragraphs (2), (4), and (5), respec18 tively; 

19 (C) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 

20 so redesignated, the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Climate Choice Stock Index 

22 Fund’ means the Climate Choice Stock Index Fund 

23 established under subsection (b)(1)(G);’’; 

24 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2), as so 

25 redesignated, the following: 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
9 

•S 3922 IS

1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘entity’ means any sole propri2 etorship, organization, association, corporation, part3 nership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited li4 ability partnership, limited liability company, or 

5 other business association, including any wholly6 owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, par7 ent-country national, or affiliate of the business as8 sociation, that exists for the purpose of making prof9 it;’’; and 

10 (E) by inserting after paragraph (5), as so 

11 redesignated, the following: 

12 ‘‘(6) the term ‘fossil fuel entity’ means any en13 tity— 

14 ‘‘(A) with proven carbon reserves; or 

15 ‘‘(B) that explores for, extracts, processes, 

16 refines, or transmits coal, oil, gas, oil shale, or 

17 tar sands;’’; and 

18 (2) in subsection (b)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

20 (i) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

21 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

22 (ii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

23 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

24 and’’; and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
10 

•S 3922 IS

1 (iii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(G) a Climate Choice Stock Index Fund as 

4 provided in paragraph (6).’’; and 

5 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(6)(A) The Board shall select an index which 

7 is a commonly recognized index comprised of com8 mon stock. 

9 ‘‘(B) The historical performance of the index 

10 selected under subparagraph (A) shall be comparable 

11 to that of the other investment funds and options 

12 available under this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(C) The Climate Choice Stock Index Fund 

14 shall be invested in a portfolio that is designed— 

15 ‘‘(i) to replicate the performance of the 

16 index selected under subparagraph (A); 

17 ‘‘(ii) such that, to the extent practicable, 

18 the percentage of the Climate Choice Stock 

19 Index Fund that is invested in each stock is the 

20 same as the percentage determined by dividing 

21 the aggregate market value of all shares of that 

22 stock by the aggregate market value of all 

23 shares of all stocks included in the index se24 lected under subparagraph (A); and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
11 

•S 3922 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) to ensure that no investment in the 

2 portfolio is an investment with respect to a fos3 sil fuel entity.’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 subsection (a) shall take effect— 

6 (1) only if the Federal Retirement Thrift In7 vestment Board, in the report submitted under sec8 tion 3(f)(2), indicates that the Board is unable to 

9 determine that it would be financially profitable, and 

10 consistent with the fiduciary duties of the Board, to 

11 implement low-carbon investment strategies; and 

12 (2) on the date on which the Board submits the 

13 report described in paragraph (1). 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB